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There are so many aspects that can make a memorable wedding. There’s the music that keeps the dance floor jumping. The food that forms smiles and conversations. And most importantly, the walk down the aisle and the kiss that seals the vows. Capturing the moments that highlight the best parts of your wedding is not an easy task, so finding the right photographer is essential. We have listed a few basic questions that you should ask before hiring your photographer.

What style of photography do you shoot?

There are a number of photographic styles and each one will influence the angle, lighting, mood, and choice of subject. Asking what style the photographer is the first step to getting the photos you envision in your mind. Many brides and grooms have an idea of what their wedding photos should look like, and asking what style the photographer prefers to use will help you get the photos you envision in your mind. You do not want to be surprised with highly posed photos if you expected candid shots of you and your guests.

Will we own the rights to our photos?

It is important to read the photographer’s agreement contract. Many times photographers will require that they keep the rights to the photos, and this could restrict how you share your pictures. This means that you might not be allowed to post your photos on social media or edit the photos in any way.

What’s included in your price?

You want to make sure that you know exactly what you are getting, so make sure that you write down your questions and do some research about the topics you want to cover. Here are just a few questions to ask when inquiring about what’s included in your price:

Do you offer photo packages?

Ask if you are limited to a number of photos, and if the proofs are included. Photographers will sometimes include touch-ups in their prices, other may charge for the time spent on editing the photos.

Do you charge extra for going over the time that I paid for?

You don’t want to be shocked with a bill charging more than the hourly rate you original discussed with your photographer. So, make sure to ask about rates if the wedding or reception goes over the scheduled time.

Do you use assistants to take photographs?

Weddings are a time for family and friends to celebrate the love that you have found, and many times the celebrations can be large events. You want to ensure that the photographer you choose will be able to cover the entire wedding, and that might mean that they will need assistants. You want to ask if assistants will be used and how much will be charged for each helper. It is also a good idea to ask if the photographer will be taking photos themselves, or if they will hire someone else to photograph the wedding.

Do you charge time for reviewing the pics?

Most photographers will charge for their time, this may include the time spent when meeting to review and select the proofs. Ask if the photographer will charge for reviewing the photos. Also, ask about the rate for the time spent selecting the proofs as the price may differ from the hourly rate for the wedding photo shoot.

When should we expect to have our photos ready?

Many photographer take RAW photos, meaning that the photographs are not compressed digital files so they can be edited with much more control. This gives a much better look to the finished photos as the photographer can fix any lighting problems that may have been captured. Unfortunately, the editing process takes time and photographers are not only editing your photos, they are most likely editing other wedding pics as well. It is wise to ask about an estimated completion date so you have an idea of when to expect your photos.

Estimating the amount of adult beverages that you’ll need for an event can seem like an overwhelming task, but it is much simpler than you might think. We have created a guide to help you figure out what to serve and how much to buy.

To get started you have to decide on what type of bar you will be offering: Will it be a full bar, or a wine and beer bar? A full bar typically consists of 50% wine, 20% beer, and 30% spirits. You will need 60% wine and 40% beer to stock a wine and beer bar. You can adjust these percentages according to the tastes of your guests. For example, let’s say that you will have a wine and beer bar and you know that there are more beer drinkers than wine, you could lessen the amount of wine to 35% and increase beer to 65%.

Understanding the average consumption of drinks per hour will give you an idea of the amount of beverages that will be served. Most adults will have two drinks during the first hour of the event, and one drink every hour after. The following formula will be helpful when you begin planning your purchase.

(Drinks per Person, including 2 drinks in first hours) x (Number of Guests) = (Total Drinks)

An example for a 3 hour event will look like this:

(4 Drinks per Person) x (75 Guests) = (300 Total Drinks for Event)

Now for the breakdown of how many bottles to buy. A standard 750ml bottle of wine will serve about 5 glasses, and a 1.75 liter bottle of spirit will have a little over 39 shots. Beer can be a bit trickier, as you have the choice of buying cans/bottles or serving from a keg. We will first look at how many bottles of wine and spirits will be needed, then we can explore our beer options.

Using our example for a 3 hour event with 75 guests we would have to plan for at least 300 drinks. When we break this amount down to our 50-20-30 bar ratio, we see that we’ll need 150 glasses of wine, 60 servings of beer, and 90 shots of spirits. We know that there are 5 glasses per one 750ml bottle of wine, so we divide Servings Needed by Serving per Bottle.

Wine would look like this:

(150 Servings Needed) / (5 Servings per 750ml Bottle) = 30 Bottles

And spirits would be:

(90 Servings Needed) / (39 Servings per 1.75L Bottle) = 2.3 Bottles

As we mentioned, beer is bit trickier. Sometimes buying cans or bottles can be a better choice than buying a keg. This choice could be dependent on price and/or number of servings needed. One thing to consider when buying a keg is that you will have to put a deposit down on the keg and tap, and many times stores will charge you per day on the use of the tap. The other thing to think about is how much a keg will hold. There are three sizes of American kegs, the two most common are 15.5 gallon and 7.75 gallon kegs. The 15.5 gallon will yield about 200 servings, and the 7.75 gallon keg have about 100 servings if you are pouring 10oz glasses. Buying a keg might not be the best option since we only need 60 servings of beer, you would have 40 extra servings at the end of the event.

We hope that you find this guide helpful, and that your event is grand success. Keep visiting us to learn more useful tips!